Welcome to Advantage Consulting

Why Are We Doing This?
By Bill Hamilton, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

One of the most serious decisions that have to be made in the process to win a contract actually takes place before words are written or themes and strategies are developed. This decision is the "decision to pursue" and it is frequently made hastily, without complete thought and without sufficient information.

We have spoken often of two basic questions in business development, "Can we do the work?" And "Is anyone going to let us do the work?" Since capture is an operation and we need to commit company resources to accomplish it, we need to go a little deeper. We do not enter capture because we like the sport. The opportunity we seek must help build our company in some way or we shouldn't do it.

Looking at the opportunity, we need to know if it will be funded. Are the people in the agency, serious and do they have the money to offer the opportunity. If you cannot identify the funding source and availability, it is not real. Assuming that you have identified funding, analyze your own company and determine if you have the capability to do the work profitably. Is there enough time for you to bid and win? The answers to all of these questions must be supported by factual evidence or the answers are pure self-fulfilling dreams.

Now consider your relationship with your customer. Do you have access to decision makers? Do they know you, like your company, respect and trust you? Can you enhance your company image and improve your access? All of these questions lead to the final evaluation question, "Will the customer let you win?"

Answering these questions will provide you with a realistic view of your possibility of a win. And, they should help you begin to develop a game plan to fill in holes in your information or develop call plans, demonstration plans and determine possible themes and strategies, you are on your way to a potential win. If answers bring out serious problems or potential difficulties you may be able to correct, a bid is still possible. If you cannot correct problems, the decision to pursue will be negative and you can use your resources elsewhere more effectively and profitably.

Growing business is not always about just bidding more. Business growth is usually based on bidding better; and, a no-bid decision can be the best decision you ever made.

Want to discuss your business strategy or ways to improve your win rate, contact me at 703- 405-8912 or by e mail at bhamilton@acibiz.com and let's talk.

Brown Bag Session 2: Knowing Your Statement-of-Work
By Sid Jaffe, President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

A short "Brown Bag" or training session with your team can provide tactical planning and direction that will result in stronger relationships with your clients and contacts.

On a regular basis, it is worthwhile to conduct a review of your Statement-of-Work for each of your customers and their contracts. Make sure your team knows the range of solutions they can provide, as contrasted with what they may be providing currently, on each contract. There may be opportunities to provide value-based solutions that you are missing because your team is unaware the product or service is allowed under the contract.

Your team should be familiar with and understand how to apply other applicable vehicles and schedules your company holds and the scope of work available on them. Often, the work your client needs performed may be outside of your contract but can be provided using a different vehicle or schedule.

For more information on these and other techniques contact Sid Jaffe at sjaffe@acibiz.com or 703-642-5153.

Business Tools Can Make 2010 Results Better Than 2009!
By John Bender, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Look at how well your business processes for finding, tracking, qualifying, bidding and performing on business opportunities worked when you did your end-of-year assessments. Now is the time to take action. Improvements made early in the year provide results for the entire year. Waiting to make changes only reduces your ultimate payback.

We have experience helping companies improve their business development and proposal processes with training, software tools and shoulder-to-shoulder coaching. New and improved software tools are coming out continuously that can help make real changes in your business results. Don't let another year pass.

Contact John Bender at 703-855-3163 or jbender@acibiz.com for details on what is available and what might work best for you and your company.